Monday, January 30, 2012

Speaking of installations which create amazing and dreamy environments, I came upon this magical one while browsing yesterday: 2,000 Suspended Dandelions, a work by a German artist named Regine Ramseier, created a fluffy fantasy land in a simple white room. Preparing and transporting the dandelions takes more work than one might realize. This article on Colossal details the process and shows some beautiful pictures of the installation. Make a wish!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

This morning I finally made it over to AMOA at Laguna Gloria to see this installation I've been drooling over on the website all week. Like the Kia Neill installation I posted about two Januarys ago, the artist of this installation, Lauren Fensterstock, creates organic environments in spaces. Unlike Neill's colorful and twinkling cave installation, Fensterstock uses only black paper, relying on natural light and reflective materials to provide depth in her creations. She uses a paper-curling technique to make grass, flowers, moss, and other monochromatic foliage in her works. It was a beautiful and inspiring work to see in person!

This article has some good pictures of the installation in its space at Laguna Gloria.

Picture from http://www.meca.edu/portfolio/mfa-faculty-lauren-fensterstock

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

Yesterday I took a dizzying trip to the paper store, which I nearly left empty-handed after close to an hour of considering the possibilities. So many! So incredible! So fun!

Settling on the minimum number of pieces to make a set of ten cards, I finally chose a palette of grey, yellow, teal, and pink. The colors and patterns were bright and springy, while classic and sophisticated.

Monday, January 23, 2012

I recently came across several tutorials for DIY tile coaster and couldn't wait to try them! (Here are a couple (1, 2) of the tutorials I referenced to make my coasters.)

The idea that really caught my eye was using paint color swatches as the focal point of the coasters. I decided to make three sets of coasters as Christmas gifts, each individualized to the couple receiving them. I ended up making one set of paint swatch coasters, one set of map coasters, and one set using vintage paperback book covers.

Here are some pictures of how they turned out:

Two complete sets, the books in the background, and (my husband's hand) cutting foam bottoms.